About Cynthia
Dr. Cynthia Montgomery is a licensed psychologist in California with more than four decades of clinical experience. She brings a practical, straightforward style to sessions and focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, mood struggles, and life transitions.
Dr. Montgomery also offers support around relationship and family concerns, grief, addiction, and phobias. She sees clients in English and Spanish and has a long history of working with a wide range of issues.
Background and approach
Her background includes work in geriatric and neuropsychology, and many years supporting people with addiction and the ripple effects those problems create in family roles. That experience informs her approach to family problems and caregiver stress. She also has experience addressing trauma and post-traumatic reactions, including work with veterans and armed forces issues.
Dr. Montgomery favors clear, down-to-earth conversation. She aims to make sessions practical and focused, helping people learn skills they can use between meetings.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness are among the tools she uses to help reduce anxious thoughts and unhelpful behavior patterns. Trauma-focused methods and Internal Family Systems also inform her work when past events or complex family dynamics are central concerns. She writes about parenting and uses straightforward examples to discuss roles and expectations.
People who choose her often want direct feedback and actionable strategies rather than long, abstract discussion. She combines long clinical experience with bilingual care in English and Spanish to meet varied needs.
Approaches used online and what they do
Dr. Montgomery commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Trauma-Focused Therapy in online work. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and actions and helps people test and change unhelpful thinking and behaviors to reduce anxiety and mood problems. Trauma-Focused Therapy concentrates on processing traumatic memories and on learning coping tools to manage strong reactions and post-traumatic stress.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist and client will talk about goals, symptoms, and preferences and then try methods that fit those needs. Progress is reviewed together and the plan is adjusted as needed so sessions match what actually helps.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make care more flexible. Video calls allow a face-to-face conversation when visual cues help, phone sessions can be used when bandwidth or camera use is difficult, and text-based options or live chat can work for shorter check-ins or people who prefer writing. These choices let people fit therapy into work, caregiving, or travel schedules and maintain continuity across locations.
Questions people ask
What kinds of problems does she address?
What is her therapy style like?
How long has she practiced?
What credentials and location are listed?
Which languages are available for sessions?
Can people outside the U.S. work with her?
What session formats does she use?
How are costs and scheduling handled?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Depression
- Family problems
- Grief
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 44 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English, Spanish
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